Molly Sullivan Has Been Fired As Sixers Sideline Reporter

In a surprising more, NBA Sports Philadelphia has informed Sixers sideline reporter Molly Sullivan that they have decided to go in a new direction.

The great NBA Sports Philadelphia exodus continues.

On Tuesday night, Philadelphia 76ers sideline reporter Molly Sullivan let her fans know via Twitter that she had been let go by the network. NBA Sports Philadelphia apparently wants to go in a “new direction” and that evidently doesn’t include someone as talented as Sullivan.

After six years as the sideline reporter for the @sixers, I have been informed that @NBCSPhilly is moving in a ‘new direction’ that does not include me…heartbreaking. I plan to write more. (Soon). Until then, thank you all for the memories.

The move is all the more head scratching considering that ratings for the Sixers have gone up by 45 percent over last season. Sure, the team is playing much better, but without knowledgable and engaging talent in the booth, most fans won’t care and will watch the national coverage if given the choice.

And Molly Sullivan was nothing if not knowledgable and engaging.

Word is both play-by-play announcer Marc Zumoff and color commentator Alaa Abdelnaby will continue calling games but it isn’t known if Comcast plans to replace Sullivan or will go forward without a reporter on the sidelines. Which would be incredibly odd.

Sullivan joins a long list of on-air talent that has been shown the door by Comcast over the last few years. It includes Marshall Harris, Tim Panaccio, Dei Lynam, Ron Burke, Neil Hartman and Phillies reporter Leslie Gudel. Add in the cancellation of Breakfast on Broad and the loss of Sarah Baicker and Jillian Mele and you have enough talent to launch your own sports network.

All of the comes in the wake of NBC Sports Philadelphia attempting to go away from reporting news and more into the realm of opinion and discussion. You can thank that rationale for having to endure watching Mike Missanelli telecast his radio show for several hours every weekday.

And for the fact that somehow, Barrett Brooks still manages to have a job.

As someone who has been a Sixers fan for many, many years I can say with 100 percent certainty that Sullivan will be missed. During the worst years of The Process she was sometimes the only reason to even tune into the games. She was engaging, fun to watch and knew Sixers basketball inside and out. Philadelphia’s loss will be another city’s gain.

I mean, where else are you going to find a reporter who can handle this crew with the same professionalism Sullivan showed this past season?

I was lucky enough to have met and talked to Molly Sullivan on occasion over the years and I can also say without question that she is one of the nicest, sweetest people in the business. She always responded to Tweets personally with an encouraging word or a funny line and engaged with fans when she didn’t really have to.

Good luck to you Molly. Watching Sixers games just won’t be the same anymore.

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David Goodman has been a Philadelphia sports fan from the moment his father taught him how to say the words "F*ck Dallas". He loved watching the Phillies win the World Series in 2008, but really hopes to see his beloved Sixers win an NBA title before he dies.

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